


Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Volume 1

by iBlewupthemoon



Series: Marriage of Heaven and Hell [1]
Category: Highschool DxD (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Language, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Partial Nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:41:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28744161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iBlewupthemoon/pseuds/iBlewupthemoon
Summary: You've gotten to know Issei Hyodo, a devil known as the "harem king." However, after the world of High School DxD as you know it is reset and the Longinus users mysteriously vanish, our story now focuses on what could be considered his opposite, Makoto Fujiwara, an angel with no desire for a harem. However, fate begins to lead him on the same path as the goddess who reset the world threatens the very balance of Heaven and Hell.After Makoto narrowly saves his friend's life, he finds himself targeted by fallen angels and rogue exorcists as he finds out he's actually an angel! Thankfully, he's not alone as he receives the unlikely help of a devil, who happens to be the school's idol, Rias Gremory, along with a young priestess girl named Asia Argento. However, his problems run deeper than the fallen angels...
Series: Marriage of Heaven and Hell [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2107470
Kudos: 3





	1. I'm a What!?

"President, are you sure you can trust him?"

"Call me optimistic, but his aura is far different than any others of his kind I've encountered."

"But if he _is_ a threat, we could be in great danger."

"I know who his mother is more than he does. And besides, he's the least of our worries right now…"

* * *

**Volume 1: Angel of the Occult Manor**

My name is Makoto Fujiwara. I am 17 years old and a second-year student at Kuoh Academy. I live with my mother, Gabby Fujiwara, in a fancy house bought from a fortune accumulated from God-knows-where. I haven't seen my father in years, and whenever I bring up that delightful subject, she dodges the question.

The only reason I am here at this school is because my mom, and I quote, "wants grandchildren." I don't really know what that means, exactly.

Well, that and we got a discount on tuition since she works there as a counselor.

This school, until a couple years ago, was a girls-only school. That seems, at first glance, like a wet dream for adolescent boys like me, until you realize you only get to hang out with-

My inner monologue was interrupted by a poke to my forehead.

"Ow," I said, deadpan as ever.

That was Aika Kiryuu. The person I hang out with most often. I mostly hang out with her due to our similar tastes in anime and manga. Though _my_ tastes don't involve quite as much smutty doujinshi.

"Cutting class again, I see," she said.

"I've told you before, I can take that class in my sleep," I said. "Hell, I've taught Matsuda and Motohama more about English than the teacher has. Though that may be in part due to them being too busy having erotic daydreams in the middle of class."

"That's not the issue." Aika retorted. "Sensei knows you're brilliant, but if you actually showed up to class you would-"

"What? Be top of my class?" I interrupted "As opposed to third or fourth where I am now? (Or was it second?) The point is, I don't want that kind of attention."

"Or maybe you just want to be lazy."

"Okay. That too." I abruptly admitted.

"I have the latest chapter of JoJo's if you want to read it…" Aika said, handing me the latest issue of Ultra Jump.

"Thanks, Aika."

"They finally reveal President Valentine's ability in this chapter. It's wild."

She had my attention until I heard a yelp coming from the direction of the tennis courts.

My intuition lead me to (somehow) leap over the fence into the tennis court.

"You alright!?" I exclaimed, also by instinct.

"I think I sprained my ankle," one of the players said, obviously in pain. "Could you get the nurse?"

"Naw, that will take too long," I replied. I took a look at her injured ankle and put my right hand over it. There was a teal glow and it was like the bruise was never there.

"Try standing up," I said.

She stood up and was fine…and speechless.

Before she could say anything, I was already out of the tennis court. This time, I took the gate like a normal person.

"What was that?" Aika inquired.

"What? Me jumping over the fence?" I replied. "I don't know. Every time I tried out for the track team, they dropped me because they feared they would get accused of doping."

"No, you black hole. How you healed her sprained ankle."

"Oh. That." I replied. "I've had the ability to heal since I was little."

"Also, _very_ smooth exit," Aika added, sarcastically of course. "Wasted another perfect romantic moment."

"That will just demand all of my time," I replied.

"Yes, because you _definitely_ have no free time,"

As much as I didn't want to admit it. She had a point. That was another bad excuse.

I heard the bell toll for the transition into the last class period of the day.

"Okay, Aika." I stipulated "If it makes you feel any better. I'll go to _one_ class today."

* * *

We were in Class 2-B, which was on the second floor of the High School Wing.

"C'mon. I'll race ya!" Aika said as she began to dash up the steps.

"Let's not. I'm out of shape," I replied.

"Hmm. I wonder why?" she asked. "Maybe its because all you do is sit around and watch anime."

"Hey. Maybe if they let me on the track team, I would get some exercise."

"I doubt that," she said as she continued up from the intersection of the stairs.

"Good grief," I said, right before tripping on one of the steps and dropping the books I was holding.

"Ah crap. This is going to ruin my day."

Then all of a sudden, as I looked back up on that same intersection, I caught a glimpse of someone.

She had beautiful red hair and jet blue eyes, and her complexion and structure suggested she wasn't originally from around these parts.

I didn't know her name. All I knew was that she was one year my senior and the girl of every boy, scratch that, every _one_ in the school's dreams. She causes a commotion every time she's within a kilometer radius.

She walked up and picked up the books I dropped.

"These are yours, correct?" she said as she handed them back to me.

"Oh, yes. Thanks!"

Even the way she smiled as I said that was enchanting.

She then walked down the stairs.

"I'll see you around, Makoto Fujiwara."

I couldn't help but stare as I asked myself,

"How does she know my name?"

"Dude, you're so lucky. Of all the girls to help you out there, it was her."

That was Matsuda. He was accompanied by his partner-in-crime, Motohama. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I'm sorta-kinda friends with these two.

Me and Aika like to discuss anime and manga with them occasionally, but mostly, they like to ogle the members of the Kendo Club. What the hell is so special about the Kendo Club?

"You two are the experts in the hotties of this school. Who was she?"

"Her name is Rias Gremory," Motohama said. "99-58-90."

"And those three numbers are important because..."

"In layman's terms, she's smokin' hot." Matsuda replied. "The only reason no one has the gumption to ask her out is because they know she's way out of their league. The fact that she knows you by name is promising indeed."

"Yeah," Motohama commented, "I would kill to have that much of a chance with her... oryourmom"

"What was that last bit?" I asked, glaring at him.

"Oh, nothing!"

I continued walking back up.

"Oh. Right on time," the teacher said as I entered the classroom. "Glad to see you join us, Fujiwara."

* * *

Once class was finally over, Aika lead me to this old school building.

"Why are we here?" I asked. "I've never seen anyone actually use that building."

She pulled out from her bag what appeared to be a small dagger in the shape of a lance. It was solid gold with a purple sphere on its end.

"So I decided to order a figurine off the internet…" Aika began.

" _Here we go…"_ I thought to myself, expecting another one of her crazy fangirl stories.

"…but this came in the mail instead!" That was mercifully anticlimactic. "I don't know what this is, but maybe someone in there would."

As she mentioned that, two knuckleheads stormed over to our location.

"You ratted us out, didn't you!?" Matsuda accused.

"What gave you that idea?" I condescendingly replied.

"We were trying to catch a glimpse of the girls changing and before we knew it, we were being chased off," Motohama added.

"Maybe next time stop yelling stuff like 'Murayama's got huge titties' while you're peeping and maybe you'll get a glimpse for more than five seconds," I suggested.

"A very excellent point," Matsuda replied.

Aika reprimanded me, "Makoto, don't encourage those lechers…"

"You're one to talk," I fired back. "You've been trying to size me up ever since middle school."

"Oh, but you've been my hardest one yet. I got those two's measurements the day we met. But you're so boring I'll be lucky to get your size before we graduate,"

"Good luck with that," I said.

"Well, we gotta run off. See ya!" Matsuda said.

"Yeah, they gotta get home so they can catch that really lewd anime on TV," Aika said. "Y'know what? Let's do this tomorrow. I'm beat," she added.

Right as we reached a forest that led to my house, we heard a suspicious rustle in the forest. "Let's check it out," Aika suggested.

"Let's not," I replied. But that was no use, she burst into the forest by herself. I begrudgingly followed her to make sure she doesn't get mauled by a wild animal.

"Aika?" I called out as I was wandering through the forest. "This isn't funny!" I added.

What definitely wasn't funny was what I ended up finding. She was laying down on the ground with a nasty wound in her stomach. Blood was everywhere.

I ran over. The wound didn't look like teeth. It looked like… a stab wound? I looked in her bag for her phone to find her parents' contact information.

"Looking for this?" someone said behind me.

I was surrounded by three suspicious figures in the trees. One was a blonde girl with pigtails and looked like she came straight out of a maid café, the other blue-haired woman was showing way too much cleavage, and the one guy looked like a stereotypical school shooter. All three of them had jet black wings for some reason.

The blonde girl was carrying Aika's dagger.

"Master Halja was looking for the Downfall Dragon Spear." The trench coat guy said "How it ended up in the hands of a high school girl is beyond me."

"Raynare is gonna fangirl over that!" the blonde girl explained.

I was too busy trying to heal Aika. She still had a pulse, but it was faint.

"Hey, that ability… an angel!? I thought they were extinct!"

What on Earth is that blonde bitch yapping on about?

"He doesn't seem to know he is one, Mittelt. Let's keep it that way!" The blue-haired woman exclaimed as they were about to lob spears they got out of hammerspace or something at me.

Yup. That's it. I'm about to die. Mom is gonna be disappointed that I went out without giving her any grandchildren.

Except, in a twist of fate, I was rescued in a flash of bright red.

The woman in question appeared in front of me, she had black wings of her own, but hers were more…devilish.

As I began to examine her distinct features, it became clear.

Did Rias Gremory come to save my ass!?

"If you want these two, you're going to have to get through me…" she proclaimed.

"You must be of the house of Gremory…" the trench coat guy exclaimed. "Why is a devil like you in cahoots with an angel?"

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm just a normal high school student," I inquired in confusion.

"I would ask the same of you, Dohnaseek," Rias replied to the fallen angel, "I doubt Azazel would have reacted too kindly with you three siding with the goddess of death responsible for Ragnarok."

"You insolent prat!" the blue-haired fallen angel exclaimed as the three of them went to attack Rias with their spears.

Rias was already surrounded with an aura as red as her hair. She then unleashed a huge energy attack on the fallen angels, knocking them down from their perches.

"Consider that a warning shot," she said.

The dagger flew off from where the fallen angel I assumed was Mittelt was sitting and I caught it.

"I guess I wasn't much help…" I said in my usual deadpan manner as I gave the dagger to Rias.

"On the contrary, Fujiwara. You saved me the trouble of healing her myself, which is much more… complicated… Anyway, I'll take care of Kiryuu from here. You need get to safety."

As I got some distance, I was thinking,

Should I trust Rias with Aika? She seems kind enough and she saved my life just now...

My inner conflict as I was darting home was cut short as Rias exclaimed, "Fujiwara, look out!"

The blue haired fallen angel had gotten up from Rias' attack and was flying right towards me. No amount of running could save me from becoming a kabob.

" _They say I'm an angel, huh!? Well here goes nothing!"_

I leapt into the air with all my might. All of a sudden, I could see tell there was a light source above my head and I was breaking every single law of gravity in the book.

I was an honest-to-God angel.

That wasn't stopping the blue-haired fallen angel on my tail, so I needed something to stop her. I got several feet in the air as I recalled the fallen angels could summon weapons in their hands, so naturally not-fallen angels should be able too, right?

Before I knew it, I summoned a sword made of teal light in my hand. As the fallen angel came at me with reckless abandon, I dodged her spear and swiped right through her, cutting her clean in half.

* * *

The next thing I knew, it was morning.

"What a bizarre dream," I said to myself. "Me? An angel? Get real…"

I went down for breakfast. For some reason, Aika was over.

"Hey, Makoto," she said.

"What are you doing here this morning?" I asked.

Awkward silence.

"Wow, you must have _really_ blacked out," she replied.

"What do you mean, 'blacked out'?"

"Makoto?" Mom exclaimed from the living room. "Could you check the guest room to see if she's up?"

"You referring to Aika? She's already up."

"No, the _other_ one."

"I don't know who you're talking about, but I'll check…"

I went up to the guest bedroom and knocked. No response. I opened the door.

Rias Gremory!?

She got herself up and yawned. From the looks of things, she's definitely not wearing anything under those bedsheets.

"Good morning…" she said softly, not caring at all about her lack of clothes.

And just like that, I knew that my normal life as I knew it was over…


	2. Welcome to the Occult Research Club!

I withdrew from the bedroom coolly.

Or, at least, that was the plan, as I was greeted outside the door by a girl with long black hair in a ponytail. That and her _yamato nadeshiko_ energy identified her as the only girl to rival Rias in sheer head-turning – Akeno Himejima.

"My, my…" she exclaimed, obviously seeing through my obviously flustered expression.

Aika quickly followed her, looked downwards at me, grinned, and left.

All I could say was "Good grief."

"Don't mind her," Rias said, who had thankfully put on a bathrobe, "She's a friend of mine,"

"Of course she is..." The two big sisters of the school would obviously be best buddies.

"Sorry if I surprised you just now," Rias said. "You passed out after using all your energy defeating Kalawarner, so I helped you get home and stayed in the guest room overnight."

That's not the issue

"Just letting you know," I said to her. "Mom has some old pajamas she would be happy to let you borrow if you ever need to crash here again."

"Oh. I can't sleep with clothes on," she said without hesitation.

Of course. I found out last night she was a devil. Sleeping in the buff sounds like the kind of shit they would get up to.

"Your mom _did_ let me borrow one of your old stuffed animals to snuggle with, so thank you!"

Okay. The fact pattern of her sleeping habits that she has just given me is giving me so many mixed emotions. Not to mention, I now know my favorite Raichu plushie that I see on the bed has been in close contact with one of the hottest girls in my school.

"Thank you again for what you did last night. I knew I could trust you. My name is Rias Gremory, by the way, and yes, I _am_ a devil. It's nice to meet you. I can call you Makoto, right?"

She then began walking towards the bath with the same hypnotic smile on her face from earlier.

Okay. I am apparently an angel and I am now on a first name basis with a devil. This has to be some sort of sacrilege.

I went back down to breakfast. After Rias had showered, she and Akeno joined us.

"Do you want me to fix you some tea Lady Gabriel?" Akeno asked my mom.

"I have coffee already made. Thank you, though, Akeno."

"I suppose you've met Miss Gremory?" Mom asked me.

I nodded, not wanting to mention the awkward wake-up call.

"The look on your face was priceless!" Akeno added, giggling. She wasn't helping.

"Speaking of which," my mom added, "I assume by now you are an angel."

"I assumed as much."

"You've had these powers from birth because I too am one," she said as a set of ten wings of her own and a halo above her head materialized. I _would_ have comically reacted to this or done a spit take with my coffee, but after last night, everything ceases to surprise me.

She brought her wings and halo back in, "My true identity is the seraph Gabriel. I would normally reside in heaven, but things have changed.

Not only had Jehovah God been killed centuries before, but 18 years ago, Heaven had been overthrown by Halja, the Norse Goddess of Death, the only survivor being me, by the skin of my teeth, forcing me to live in hiding on Earth.

I met your father, a human, shortly after, making you a Nephilim, a hybrid of a human and an angel."

That had proven my previous statement wrong, "So let me get this straight." I said. "God has been dead for centuries."

"Yes."

"Heaven has been taken over by the Goddess of Death."

"Yes."

"Forcing you to live on Earth, where you fell in love in love with a human."

"Yes."

"And gave birth to me."

"Yes."

"It's official. Nothing makes sense anymore."

"Wasn't she in possession of a Longinus-level Sacred Gear?" Rias asked.

"Yes. She took us by surprise because she wasn't the one who was supposed to have that power." Mother added. "She managed to amplify her existing power to unheard levels, overpowering even Michael.

In the chaos I went to Earth searching for the boy in this very town who was supposed to have that power, but I couldn't find him. When I went to his address, the residents said that no one by that name lived there.

I searched phone books, records, pretty much everything, searching for him or _any_ of the other Longinus users I could find that could possibly stop her, and my fears had been realized. Ragnarok had happened. Halja reset the universe to 18 years in the past, eliminating not only the lives, but the very existence of all other Longinus users that could oppose her rule as the new supreme God."

"No wonder she's the 'goddess of death'," Rias commented.

"Yeah. That's cool and all, but I'm already late for school, so…" and I left the house. As I was leaving, I could hear Mother saying, "But it's Sunday!"

Yeah, I knew. I just needed some fresh air to make sense of whatever my mother just said. What the hell is a Sacred Gear? What's a Longinus? Is this an alternate reality? Does that mean I don't exist in the other reality?

As I was asking that and a million other questions, I heard a voice calling out to me.

"Excuse me, you're Makoto Fujiwara, right?"

The girl had long, dark black hair and violet eyes, she was quite good-looking, but she gave off less of a, well, Rias Gremory, vibe and more of the "cliché girl next door" vibe. She looked like she was about my age, but I've never seen her at school before. Perhaps she goes to one of the more reasonable establishments.

"Yeah, that's me. Need something?"

"No. Nothing," she replied. "Well, my name is Yuma Amano, and… I'm just wondering… are you seeing anyone right now?"

"No. Why?" I asked, bluntly. That was a pretty personal question…

"Good. In that case… I know this is a bit last minute, but… would you be willing to go out on a date with me?"

Well that was sudden.

I had to think about that for a second. All this time I've been trying to avoid relationships. And here I am with an extremely cute girl asking me out right on the fly. This is a perfect situation.

Too perfect.

One of the fallen angels last night _did_ mention another one of their allies being interested in Aika's dagger…

However, that thought was being clouded by the grief that Aika and _especially_ my mother would give me if I waste an opportunity like this.

I rubbed my forehead as I was thinking on this, and finally I said, "Okay. I'll do it."

"That's wonderful!"

We exchanged numbers and we agreed to meet later that afternoon. I was planning on telling my mom, but she had just sent me a message on my phone she was meeting someone this afternoon and won't be home till late.

Good thing she had given me a black credit card for situations such as this. The things she will do to ensure she becomes a grandmother…

I put a polo shirt and some nice jeans. Didn't want to be too fancy. Afterall, this whole situation is awfully suspicious. I also made an effort to tame that cowlick I seem to keep getting to no avail.

Part of the reason I agreed to do this, though obviously not admitting this to Yuma, was to see if she was really one of the fallen angels trying to kill me, or just a lonely teenager.

I arrived downtown slightly spiffed up. Yuma arrived at about the same time. My mom had a "100% Foolproof Date Plan" that she would never let me forget since I was in Middle School.

Step 1: Go to a nice restaurant.

We went to this place that I liked to go with my mother. She recommended this restaurant and I would agree. The prices were on the higher side but that's what my mother gave me the card for. She seemed to particularly like the dessert she ordered.

Step 2: Go shopping

I wasn't particularly into clothes shopping, but Yuma pointed out a clothing store she always wanted to shop at. I managed to find some clothes myself.

Step 3: Have fun on the town.

We played some games at the arcade. I noticed she had insane reflexes on DDR and was surprisingly into House of the Dead.

And that ended my insanely cliched date. I would be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it. Almost forgot that I was super suspicious of her.

Speaking of which…

We were approaching "Step 4: End on a high note. Make the date memorable" We were approaching the park fountain as the sun was going down.

As I was in front of the fountain, she asked, "Hey, Makoto? Since this is our first date, could you to do something for me?"

Okay. One of three things is about to happen. She's gonna either:

A. Ask me to close my eyes. Pause for dramatic effect… and cue the romantic music as she kisses me.

B. Shank me.

C. Be a total tease and banish me into friendzone hell.

"Okay…," I said, bracing myself for one of those three answer choices.

Unnerving pause.

"Would you die for me?"

It's B. Definitely B. The jarring change in her tone of voice gave it away. This definitely wasn't one of those "Would you endure blistering winds and scorching deserts, risking life and limb for me?" rhetorical-type questions. This was more along the lines of, "The game was rigged from the start. Nothing personal, kid."

I chuckled and said, "Somehow, I knew you were going to say that… _Raynare!"_

Her cold stare turned into one of surprise. She probably wasn't expecting me to have an idea of her true identity already after one of the fellow fallen angels mentioned that name. Judging by her reaction, I must have been right on the money.

She immediately lunged at me with a red light spear as I summoned a teal light sword to parry it. However, her strength proved to be much more than I anticipated as the blow ended up launching me into the fountain as I was parrying it.

I quickly regained my composure. I had been soaked by the fountain and I felt a bit of blood coming down my forehead.

As my eyes were clearing up, I noticed she had two black wings like the fallen angels last night. While she was still wearing the same dress from our date, her eyes were noticeably sharper, as if she was purposefully making herself look less aggressive as "Yuma."

"I don't know where you heard that name, but it doesn't matter," she said. "Master Halja ordered me to eliminate the angel who slew Kalawarner."

This is bad. She seems to be much stronger than the other fallens. It wouldn't hurt to try and talk this out.

"I must say I'm disappointed," I said. "Our date was going quite well."

"I agree. You proved to be more enjoyable than I was expecting. It's a shame it has to end this way."

She then summoned another light spear. It was clear that talking wasn't going to work. I revealed my wings and halo and summoned another light sword, plus a second one in my left hand for good measure.

I had to be careful. I couldn't overexert myself as I learned the hard way last time.

She lunged at me again. This time, being more prepared and with the extra light sword, I managed to properly block the hit. However, it was still obvious she had the superior offensive capability and it still managed to knock me back a bit.

"Impressive. No wonder you easily overpowered Kalawarner," she said before flinging the light spear at me. I parried that one away, but she then followed with a second one that hit me straight in the abdomen.

I managed to heal it before I bled out too much, but it was getting obvious my strength was running out.

"You're quite stubborn," Raynare said, about to aim for the finishing blow. "I would have loved to get to know you a little more but I'm unfortunately on a tight schedule."

I don't know how much longer I can hold out. I can't defend for much longer, much less attack.

It was then that someone came to my rescue yet again. This time it was… Aika?

She had summoned some sort of deflector shield in front of me, holding her dagger in front of her. The question was why she had devil wings like Rias.

"Who's this girl? Been seeing other women, Makoto?" Raynare inquired.

"I don't know her," I lied.

"Sure you don't…" Aika replied.

"It doesn't matter. I've been looking for that Artificial Sacred Gear," Raynare added. "We'll be taking that back now."

As she was saying that, Dohnaseek and Mittelt emerged from out of the forest.

However, as that was happening, we received backup of our own.

Akeno arrived as bolts of lightning suddenly prevented the other two fallen angels from approaching and Rias rushed in to help me get back to my feet.

"My, my. We seem to have quite the audience," Akeno observed.

"My name is Rias Gremory. The heir to the house of Gremory," Rias announced to Raynare. "The boy you just tried to attack is the son of the seraph Gabriel, Makoto Fujiwara."

"I think we've already introduced each other by now," I muttered.

"Well, that's a surprise," Raynare replied. "What is high-ranking devil like yourself doing with the son of a high-ranking angel?"

"Simple – To focus on defeating actual threats like you and your employer. And if you try to harm any of my allies or servants again, I will personally obliterate you."

"That's a shame. But I should warn you that my boss is much more ruthless than either of us.

That being said, I did enjoy myself, Makoto. We should do this again some other time." Raynare said as she and her goons flew off.

"Good grief," I exclaimed.

"Y'know I keep telling you to get a girlfriend, but you didn't have to go that far…" Aika commented.

"I don't want to hear a word about whether or not I have a girlfriend ever again," I fired back.

Rias and Akeno led us to that old schoolhouse from earlier.

The schoolhouse seems quite well taken care of despite the fact that literally no classes go on in here.

We entered a classroom labeled, "Occult Research Club."

It looks less like a classroom and more like a living room. Granted, a living room doesn't usually have these many candles or a summoning circle.

"So, how was your date?"

Mom was in the room with two other students.

One was a petite girl with white hair. I would have confused her with an elementary school student if I didn't know she was a freshman named Koneko Toujou.

The other was a fellow second-year named Yuuto Kiba. This was the first time I've seen him not surrounded by a groupie of girls.

"It was nice," I replied to my mom, "except for the fact she was a servant of the Goddess of Death,"

"So, I take it the second date isn't happening?" Koneko asked.

"Well, Yuma's still in my contacts…"

"I suppose we're all settled then," said Rias, "Normally, this club is merely a front for me and my servants to operate within the school grounds. As you can guess, all of us are devils."

Each of them revealed their bat-like devil wings.

"However, since you've been such a big help to us recently, not to mention being the son of Miss Gabriel, who's offered to be our faculty representative from here on out, we've decided to welcome you as our first honorary member of the Occult Research Club.

Welcome to the family."


	3. Picking Up The Pieces

"So, Rias," I asked "what exactly are we still doing out here this late? It's past my bedtime,"

"You're supposed to address her properly, delinquent," Koneko remarked.

"Okay… Miss Gremory-"

"As in, you're supposed to refer to her as 'President' in public."

"President Rias," I said as Koneko looked frustrated, Akeno said "My, my" like she always does, and Aika and Rias looked amused, "Why are we approaching this creepy building this late at night?"

"It's only 9:30," Aika commented.

"As an angel, you naturally prefer the daytime. Us devils are creatures of the night," Rias replied. "But to answer your question, Makoto, I'm here to demonstrate how our peerage system works.

We each have a rank based on a piece on a chess board, with a high-ranking devil like myself getting 12 'Evil Pieces' to assign to my peerage.

As the leader, I'm naturally the King. In a setting such as a Rating Game, I'm the key target that determines the winner.

Yuuto is a Knight. His strength lies in his speed.

Koneko is a Rook. She relies on her raw strength and bulk to gain the advantage."

" _Then you must have screwed that choice up…"_ I thought, recalling Koneko's petite figure.

"We currently don't have one, but a Bishop is strong with magic and spells,

and Akeno is a mixture of all three as the Queen,"

"So, what is Aika then?" I asked.

"Kiryuu is the Pawn"

I whistled. "Looks like you got the short end of the stick, Aika!"

"Not necessarily. Note that I said _the_ Pawn. I used all 8 of my Pawn pieces to turn her into a devil,"

"I forgot to mention," said Aika, "but, according to President, the DDS apparently has something very powerful sealed within it,"

"Not only that, but she can be promoted to any of the other pieces, including the Queen, in enemy territory or with my permission," Rias added

"So, she's less 'cannon fodder,' and more of a wild card,"

"That's a pretty apt description."

As we were approaching, Rias continued her explanation, "What we're about to fight in there is what is known as a 'stray devil,'"

"Let me guess, a devil without a master?"

"Close. It's a devil that slew and _escaped_ from its master," Kiba responded. "Otherwise _you_ would be a stray angel,"

"Unless it's an emergency, I suggest merely spectating so I can properly demonstrate what each of the pieces do," suggested Rias. "Since you have power over light, the fun would be over a bit too quickly."

"So, devils are like vampires?"

"You could say that. We have similar weaknesses such as light and holy objects."

Wait. Is she implying vampires are real too?

Our little trivia session was over as we entered the abandoned building.

A nonchalant man with short purple hair, wearing a coat, with his hands in his pockets, emerged from the pillar as Rias' peerage got into battle stances. I leaned against the wall, wishing I had brought some popcorn.

"Relax. I'm one of Milcom Amon's servants. I'm pretty sure what you're looking for is taken care of," the man replied

"And what business does Milcom have here, Enrico Stark?" Rias replied. "The archduke specifically assigned us this quarry."

"Oh. Curiosity. My master is busy preparing for his game with Riser Phenex and I got bored. He told me to go hunt down some strays or something and I ended up fighting some topless broad shooting laser beams out of her titties."

"Please tell me you're joking…" I commented, still leaning against the wall.

"Nope. Not exactly something you kids should have been handling,"

"Age ratings aside, tell your master that if he lets his servants loose on my territory again, he will have to answer to me."

"I'll make a note of that…" he said before flying off.

"Aw, I was looking forward to dishing out some punishment tonight," said Akeno, uncomfortably disappointed.

"Sorry you didn't get to see the demonstration, Makoto," said Rias.

"Eh. I need to be getting to bed, anyway,"

"Speaking of which, we'll be staying at your house from now on…" Rias dropped like a ten-megaton bombshell.

" _Oh_ no. I'm not having a harem of attractive freeloaders in my house…"

"Technically we're not freeloading since we're helping your mom deal with the Goddess of Death," said Akeno. "And besides," she got uncomfortably close to me, "Wouldn't you like to live with a bunch of hot, attractive young ladies all the time?"

"Well, if you put it like that…"

Before I could finish my statement, Rias announced. "It's settled then! The Fujiwara household will now house the Occult Research Club!"

What have I gotten myself into? My life's now literally a harem anime from Hell.

* * *

The next morning, I was splashing water in my face in a futile attempt to wake myself up from this bizarre dream.

After getting dressed and breakfast, I saw Rias waiting out front. "Hey, your mother suggested I walk to school with you,"

I knew it. Mother's doing this whole "ORC House" thing to get me hooked up. She's already trying to play matchmaker between me and Rias.

At least this gives me an opportunity to ask her some more questions.

"So, who was that toolbox from last night?" I asked as we were approaching the school.

"He was a servant from the peerage of Milcom Amon. A Queen, I believe."

"Has Milcom been giving you any trouble before?"

"No. He doesn't have a complete set yet, but he's already proving to be a worthy contender. I heard the Phenex family challenged him and it's supposed to be an interesting match."

I noticed some gazing eyes as we entered campus, I could hear some clamoring amongst them.

"The hottest girl on campus and the guy who pole vaulted over the tennis court fence two days ago walking to school together. That oughta be inconspicuous…" I muttered

As we entered the main school building, the Student Council President was there.

"Good morning, Rias," she said.

"Morning, Sona."

"I've been hearing a lot about you, Fujiwara," Sona said to me.

"I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"No, she's just a friend of my family," Rias replied.

"So, does that means she's also… y'know…"

"I am, yes." Sona replied.

So, it's not just the Occult Research Club that's controlled by devils, but the Student Council as well. This is quickly turning into some Illuminati-type shit.

"See you later, Rias." I said as I started heading to my first class.

Before I could get there, I could feel a threatening presence behind me as I narrowly blocked a sucker punch with the back of my arm. A sneak attack like that wouldn't really work anymore after Raynare tried to give me the uncool version of first date penetration.

"Matsuda, I told you that trying to take him on would end badly…" said Motohama

"What the hell, man! I thought you were cool. Now you're walking to school with the school's hottest pair of tits!"

I do _not_ want to know what Matsuda's idea of "cool" is.

"Rumors have going around about you performing insane feats of strength and hooking with the hotties in the Occult Research Club," Motohama explained.

"If I told you what happened, you wouldn't believe me," I said, shaking my now sore arm off.

They went pale with shock.

"So, it is true! You _did_ do it with her!" Motohama exclaimed as Matsuda passed out on the floor

"Good grief. It's wasn't anything like that," I said as I walked off.

After classes were over, several of the girls suddenly congregated around the entrance. I found out why shortly after. Yuuto Kiba had entered the room.

"Does his sacred gear make all the chicks hot for him or something?" I muttered.

"Hey, Makoto," he greeted me.

"Afternoon, Kiba" I greeted back.

"Wait, don't tell me…" one of the girls exclaimed for some reason.

"Yep. Yuuto and Makoto are totally a unit!" Aika responded.

"No, we are not! Stop trying to give the Doujin Club ideas!" I retorted.

"Anyway, your mom is wanting to see you in the club room," Kiba said.

"Okay, I'll be heading up there,"

"Tell your mom I'm available!" Matsuda said

"I definitely won't!" I replied.

As Kiba, Aika, and I entered the club room, I noticed a conspicuous wooden case laying on the table. My mother was waiting for us.

"Hey, Makoto. You were just in time," Mother said. "I want you to have these."

She handed me the case and I opened it. It was a set of black chess pieces. Each piece had a golden glow to them.

"This is great and all, but I don't see what an angel could do with Evil Pieces…"

"No, these are actually Holy Pieces. While the Evil Pieces reincarnate someone into a devil, these are supposed to reincarnate someone into an angel.

In the previous timeline, we developed a system known as the 'Brave Saint' system. However, our work on that was lost after Heaven was taken over by Halja since it was created later in the timeline than we are now. Over the last couple days, I worked with Rias' father and Ajuka Beelzebub to reverse-engineer the Evil Pieces into a system that can replace the one we lost in order to bolster our lost numbers.

It was originally intended for me to use these pieces, but we decided it was in our best interest for you to have them instead."

I had to sit down, "I don't know…"

"I understand. These last couple days have been a big shock to you."

"From personal experience, being a master is a big responsibility," said Rias. "It's understandable if you're having trouble deciding."

"It's not just that," I said. "I've wanted to live a peaceful, quiet life as long as I remember. I've already got myself caught in the crosshairs and I'm not sure if I should turn back or not."

"Trust me, I know what you're talking about," Mother said. "Why else did I put an enchantment on you to suppress your angelic powers?

I didn't want you caught up in this mess, but at the very least, sleep on this decision and come back to me when you're ready,"

* * *

The next day was a weekend, and my Mom asked me to buy the groceries.

She handed me quite a long list, so I was reviewing it quite thoroughly as I was heading downtown.

Maybe what I should have been reviewing was the road. Because, as I was scanning through the numerous spices Mother wanted, I suddenly ran into someone and got knocked down.

"Oh dear. I'm terribly sorry!" she said.

I looked up. The person I ran into appeared to be a young Priestess. Much like Rias, she looked foreign, especially as I noticed her hair was a gorgeous natural shade of blonde.

"Don't worry about it. I should be the one apologizing." I replied to her as she reached down and grabbed the shopping list I dropped.

"Oh! I need to go shopping as well! But I'm not from around here, so I'm a bit lost," she said giggling. "Could you lead me to where the nearest market is?"

"Sure. I'll even cover the bill for you as payment for my clumsiness."

I lead her to the market and I bought the groceries I needed along with the few items that the girl needed.

After purchasing our groceries, I walked with her to the church where I assumed the girl was working.

"Thank you so much for helping me. That was very kind of you. If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

"Makoto Fujiwara. Feel free to call me Makoto."

"My name is Asia Argento. It was nice meeting you, Makoto!" she said as she headed towards the church.

I don't know why, but something about that building is unsettling.

"Well that was awfully sweet of you..."

Rias had followed me here. She took off the sunglasses she was wearing to reveal her piercing blue eyes.

"Why don't we get some Lunch together. I have a couple things to talk to you about."

So it's a date. This was Mother's idea, wasn't it?

* * *

"I would avoid going near that Church in the future...”

"How so?" I asked after swallowing a piece of my burger. "If anything, people of the Church like her could naturally be an ally."

"They also could be _our_ enemy," she replied. "You may have allied with us, but other members of the Church might not share that sentiment. Churches are enemy territory for us devils. Exorcists, in particular, are very dangerous to us. They have the ability to obliterate us completely."

"Dark."

"So it's true! You and Rias _are_ dating!"

Matsuda and Motohama suddenly ruined the moment.

"No, Matsuda," I replied. "I'm a part of the Occult Research Club now. Me and Rias are just discussing, uh... Occult... Research..."

"Of course you are," Motohama said as the two of them walked off. "Have fun with that 'Occult Research' of your's."

"Good grief," I muttered.

"Those are some funny friends of yours," she commented, "How did you get to know them?"

"I honestly have no idea...” I replied, finishing off my burger. "But I’m still a little confused. We have the angels and devils, but what’s going on those black-winged _fallen_ angels you were talking about?”

"Well, let me break this down. I am a devil, a servant of the underworld that spreads chaos, and you are an angel, one of the servants sent by God to uphold order. You understand this, right?”

”I get the gist...”

”But the girl you dated, Yuma Amano, or, as you correctly assumed be her true name, Raynare, along with her associates, are a separate group of angels who have been corrupted by human desires - greed, lust, malice, and so on, and are cast from Heaven to the Underworld. They are known as fallen angels.”

”If they’ve been sent to the Underworld, wouldn’t they normally be allied with the devils?”

”On the contrary. They still seek to purge the forces of chaos, but at the same time, they seek vengeance against the forces of order that cast them out.”

”So that’s why you want to ally with me. An enemy of an enemy is my friend...”

”And that’s also why I want you to be careful around that priestess girl. She may have befriended you, but not all priests and exorcists serve God. Some have been excommunicated and befriended the fallen angels, who are enemies to us both.”

This is frustrating. I can’t believe there’s a chance that she’s my enemy. I don’t want to end up in another Yuma Amano situation.

“I know you’re frustrated. I could tell she was a sweet girl, but I don’t want you to put yourself in danger.”

”It just doesn’t make sense. Unlike Yuma, I could tell she was genuinely sweet and innocent. Why would she be allied with the fallen angels?”

* * *

Later that evening, I was awoken by a familiar poke in the forehead.

"Aika, what the hell!" I exclaimed, recognizing her even without even opening my eyes.

I checked the alarm clock. "It's almost four in the morning!"

"Well, you're a morning person, so you should get over it in a couple hours," Aika replied.

"Good, because that's how long I intend to sleep in for…"

"Or you could spend that time helping me with a contract."

"What does it involve?"

"He wants a couple people to watch anime with. Since Koneko was booked for tonight, I thought you would suffice as a tagalong."

"That's a pretty solid contract. I'm in."

"I would give you the coordinates, but it's not letting me get in through magic circle. So, we have to walk. Thankfully it's only a short way away."

"Maybe that's because of your Pawn powers,"

"Never underestimate the Pawn, Makoto."

We arrived at the house. Aika rang the doorbell. "Hello? We're the servants you sent from Lady Gremory." No response.

I then went for the door and tried opening it. It opened. "Huh. Door's unlocked. That's definitely safe at this hour."

Aika was the first to walk in. She immediately lurched and grasped her forehead.

"Something wrong?"

"Something's fishy about this. I'm sensing danger. Something like you only not as cool."

"Or maybe it's a headache. I'll ask the client if he has any ibuprofen," I said as we were entering, removing our shoes. "Forgive the intrusion!"

We entered the main living room. It was dimly lit with candles. The client probably had something spooky planned.

What was even spookier was Aika stepping into some liquid. "Ew. He really needs to clean his floors."

I put a finger in the puddle and took a lick. "Blood?"

We made a closer inspection and realized something was _seriously_ up. What followed the trail of blood was a mangled male corpse crucified to the wall with screws. I was about to hurl.

As I got a handle on my nausea, I could make out some crude writing on the wall. "Punishment?"

"Punishment for the evildoer!" someone said. "Which is exactly what I'm going to give to you two,"

Aika immediately turned around and used her DDS shield in to block… Is that a lightsaber!?

The man had long white hair, pale skin, and looked like a crack addict monk. He pointed his gun and bootleg lightsaber at us.

"My name is Freed Sellzen and I'll have the pleasure of exorcising you two,"

A familiar blonde-haired girl wearing a head covering emerged from downstairs. She suddenly glanced at me.

"Makoto?"


	4. Making A New Friend

What the hell is she doing here? She can't be the type to be involved with this sort of... barbarity!

"You finished with that barrier yet, Asia?" he said.

She let out a scream as she noticed the crucified corpse on the wall. I guess she isn't used to this sort of barbarity.

"Oh right, you're new here. We exorcists normally deal with those who are tempted by devils such as those two in this fashion."

I seriously doubt the "normal" practice is anywhere _close_ to that.

"Makoto? A devil?" she muttered.

I made a subtle head shake and mouthed out "No I'm not,"

She seemed to have gotten the message as she appeared to get some relief from that. The Bishounen Jackass, however, seemed to not get the memo.

He sprang off the wall to get behind us yelping, "Now block this, assclown!" as he pulled out his gun and fired at Aika while her back was turned.

I had to think fast to stop the attack so I rushed to get between her and Freed's bullets.

Definitely not the brightest decision I have ever made…

"Bold of you to take the bullet for your lady friend, boy, but you should know that these light bullets tear through devils such as yourself like they're cotton candy!" he informed me as I was lying down bleeding.

"And what makes you think I'm a devil, asshole?" I replied in pain as I was attempting to heal where the wannabe exorcist had shot me.

"That glow? Wait, don't tell me!" he exclaimed. "You're that angel I've been hearing about! Well, it doesn't matter. The fact that you came with that devil makes you no less guilty of death!"

"Stop! Don't hurt him!" Asia yelled as she rushed to protect me.

"Look. I'm just as confused as you are," he said. "By all accounts he shouldn't still be a pure angel. But that doesn't change the fact that he's our enemy,"

"No. Our master told us that she wanted him alive!"

"Is that what that bitch told you? Well then you can tell her Freed Sellzen made a little oopsie and he can't exactly be delivered to her alive."

"Hey, you forgot about me…" Aika said.

"Then get in line. I'm disposing of Angelface first," Wannabe Exorcist replied as he was about to attempt a final blow on me with his bootleg lightsaber, with little regard that Asia was trying to get in between us.

Then Aika cut in line by running in front and blocking the blow with the Downfall Dragon Spear's magic shield.

He then fired several shots at Aika, who blocked every single one of them.

"You know. You can block all the shots you want," Wannabe Exorcist said, "But that won't do a thing against me."

"No," Aika replied. "But this will,"

She then released a bunch of energy from the dagger, knocking the exorcist through a wardrobe and knocking him out.

"Well, so much that contract," Aika said. She looked at the girl. "So, what's your name?"

"Asia Argento."

"Yeah. The two of us met before. I bought her groceries. Small world, isn't it?"

"Well, I'm Aika Kiryuu. I'm friends with the meat shield."

"Ha ha," I fake laughed as I suddenly grimaced in pain.

"Oh, you're still hurt!" she said as I noticed a stray bullet hole on my leg.

She ran over and put her hands over the injury and it was instantly healed.

Impossible. Could she be another angel? Was that why she was trying to save me from that Wannabe Exorcist?

No... I noticed something resembling a ring with a green orb attached appearing on one of her hands as she was healing me. Is this one of those "Sacred Gears" I heard Rias and my mother talking about?

* * *

Later, we were eating breakfast at a nearby café.

"If you don't mind me asking, but how did you end up working with that seedy exorcist?" I asked Asia as I was cutting my pancakes.

"That sounds like the type of question she _would_ mind you asking," Aika replied.

"I didn't ask you, Aika."

"No, that's fine. I was left at a convent at a young age where I found out about my Twilight Healing ability after healing an injured puppy. The church saw it as a gift from God and assigned me to heal.

However, after I unknowingly healed a devil, I was excommunicated from the church for witchcraft and I ended up being taken under the care of a group of fallen angels and rogue exorcists."

Fallen Angels? Does that mean she's connected to the group of fallen angels that are working for Halja?

"My mother never did trust those Catholics…" I muttered.

"I need to report back to the President," said Aika. "Have fun, you two," and verbally added, "wink wink"

Real subtle, Aika.

We decided to go on a walk in the park. As we were approaching a pond, I started feeling some discomfort.

"Is there something wrong?"

I looked down at the far-right side of my stomach and found another wound we missed.

"Damn," I said in increasing pain, "I got more beat up by that attack than I thought…"

She led me to a nearby bench.

"No. Don't worry. I can take care of it. If I used my brain more, I wouldn't get myself hurt so often."

"No. It was very brave of you to protect your friend like that," Asia replied as she used her Twilight Healing to heal the wound.

"I'm no hero. Or at least, that's what I keep telling myself. I don't exactly know who I am. A couple days ago I didn't even know I was an angel,"

"The people I work for are selfish and cruel. Especially the goddess in charge of my organization. It takes all the strength I can muster from God not to become like them. But you're different. You go out of your way to help those in need."

Now that I think about it, I see a lot of myself in her, being a sort of religious outcast myself.

But did she mention a goddess?

"How sweet…"

I know that voice.

"Lady Raynare!" Asia exclaimed as we noticed my ex-girlfriend, still wearing that dress from our date, landing in the middle of the pond.

"So, you're Asia's master. I'm flattered you told your goons to lay off of me,"

"Oh, but you're way too interesting for you to be killed off by that seedy exorcist."

"Glad to see we agree on something."

"We have a lot more in common than you think."

"Ooh. Classic supervillain line #573. Never heard that one before..."

"There's a deeper reason for me for me ordering my servants to back off. But I don't have time for that. I need for you to return dear little Asia to me," she demanded as she summoned a light spear.

"Over my dead body," I said as I summoned two light swords. "She deserves better than you."

"If you're referring to strength, then you would be mistaken. As surprising as you were you were last time, you still come short."

We'll see. I revealed my wings and charged at her, aiming for the top of her head. However, she managed to block the blow.

"I told you that I'm short on time. I, unfortunately, can't afford to fool around with you right now," she said as she then struck me with the side of her spear to knock me to the ground.

As Raynare had me at spearpoint, Asia exclaimed, "Don't hurt him! I'll go with you."

I wanted to tell her to not give in, but my energy was nearly sapped from the past few hours.

The fallen angel approached Asia as I lay there unable to stop her.

"If you were wanting to finish what we started, I'll be at the church. If I were you, I would get there before the end of tonight's ritual."

And she flew off.

I let her get away with Asia and I was powerless to stop her.

If only there was a way for me to save Asia before that ritual...

* * *

"I need those pieces."

I said, storming into the club room.

"Where's the girl, Makoto?" Aika asked.

"My fallen angel ex-girlfriend took her away. She mentioned something about a ritual at the church."

"Do you remember the girl having a sacred gear?" Rias inquired.

"She has a healing ability that's even stronger than my divine healing. I think she called it 'Twilight Healing' or something."

"This is bad," Rias said. "The fallen angels have a ritual that will forcibly remove a sacred gear from a person, killing them in the process."

It was as I feared. Asia's life was on the line.

My mother was in the room, "So your desire to save the girl's life prompted your change of heart?"

"I can't let any more innocent lives be taken by Halja. Especially one as pure of heart as her's."

"So, you think she's the one?"

"No, Mother, this isn't about love. It's about saving lives,"

"Sure, it isn't," Koneko remarked.

"Well, anyway," said Mother. "The case has all the pieces except the King. That power I'll have to give to you directly."

She raised both her hands in my direction. "Are you sure you want to do this? You did say you wanted to live a normal life. After this, there is no turning back…"

"There's no sense in that now. So yes. I do."

She then began to glow golden and subsequently I did too.

I felt a surge of power rising through me as the glowing intensified. I saw several visions in my head at once. I could swear one of them was some sort of dragon.

The glowing stopped and she handed me the case.

"Congratulations, son. You are now officially a King."

"So why did you choose me instead of yourself?"

"It is still too risky for me to be active. You were a safer option. While it was mostly out of necessity, I can sense a lot of untapped power in you, potentially stronger than mine."

"I hope you're right about that."

"Congratulations, Makoto," Rias remarked.

"Thanks, Rias. Though I'm probably still not quite on your level."

"Maybe. However, me and Akeno have something urgent to take care of, so I won't be able to help you rescue Asia."

"I understand. You said it yourself, exorcists and fallen angels are dangerous to devils. I will have to go alone"

As I headed out the door, I added, "If this is last time I see you. I just want to say…"

I was hesitant to decide on what potentially may be the last thing I get to say to Rias is. Eventually I just decided on a simple

"thank you."

I then immediately went out the door as Rias and Akeno teleported out with a magic circle.

However, I was quickly followed by Koneko, Aika, and Kiba.

"Didn't you get the memo? You guys will get killed."

"So will you if you go in alone," Kiba added. "Just because you resist light weaponry doesn't mean those exorcists and fallen angels don't pose a threat.

Besides, I have a score to settle with them myself."

"Basically, we're coming with you whether you like it or not, delinquent," Koneko summed up.

"You're not getting away with that lone gunslinger act that easily," Aika added. "Besides, I should be able to pull off a promotion inside that church."

"Good grief. I guess there's no stopping you three…"

The three of them teleported to a forest near the location of the church with one of the House of Gremory circles and I teleported to the same location with one of my own.

"Sheesh, this place is giving me the creeps and I'm not even a devil," I commented as we approached the church. "Something tells me this church isn't all 'Kumbaya'."

"I can definitely sense the presence of a fallen angel inside," said Kiba. He pulled out a map. "This ritual you were talking about is likely happening under the sanctuary here,"

"If you hurry, you can save your new girlfriend," Aika added.

"I told you, she's not my girlfriend,"

"Then we mustn't waste any time," Koneko commented as she casually walked up to the front door of the sanctuary.

"Hang on, Koneko," I said. "We can't just go all Leeroy Jenkins into there. We have to have the element of surprise,"

"There's no point. They already know we're here."

She then kicked open the door. A bit unnecessary, but okay.

I noticed several of the religious symbols in the church had been defaced or destroyed since I last saw them. Not to mention they could have turned on the lights or lit a candle or something.

I found out that she was right as I heard clapping within the sanctuary as we entered.

"Nice to see you again, Angelface! Long time no see."

It was the same Wannabe Exorcist from before, Freed Sellzen.

"I've never had to deal with the same devil twice, but I sure as hell will never make that same mistake again!"


	5. The Shadow of Death

"Just tell me where the stairs to the ritual chamber are so you won't have to embarrass yourself further," I announced to the exorcist as I summoned my light swords.

"Says the guy who just walked into my bullets earlier," he replied. "But if you must know. They are hidden under that altar over there. But good luck getting through me!" he said as he pulled out his gun and bootleg lightsaber.

As he said that I noticed Koneko was lifting up an entire pew with her bare hands.

"Shit, she wasn't kidding about the Rook's strength."

She hurled the pew at the Wannabe Exorcist, but he sliced right through it, but not before Kiba managed within sword range of him.

"You may be fast, but my bullets are faster!"

He then began to fire light bullets at Kiba. The Wannabe Exorcist must have been wrong about that because he was still able to dodge his shots.

I charged in to give support to Kiba. I must have gotten a speed boost myself from getting promoted to King because I managed to avoid all of his shots.

That or he aims like a stormtrooper.

He kept trying to fire at me while blocking Kiba's sword blows. As I got in range of him, I sliced right through his gun with my light sword.

He then pulled another bootleg lightsaber from his coat and blocked my light sword. "You're in my way Angelface!" he said as he managed to kick me in the stomach, launching me away from the action.

I was trying to get back into the fight, but Kiba and the Wannabe Exorcist are too damn fast for me to get an opening.

However, after I sliced through the Wannabe Exorcist's gun, Kiba was more able to go on the offensive.

"Time to get serious," Kiba said as his sword became engulfed in darkness.

When the Wannabe Exorcist swung his swords at Kiba, he blocked it with his sword and the bootleg lightsabers began to fizzle out.

"What the…"

"It a Holy Eraser sword. A sword of darkness that absorbs light."

"Tch. Another sacred gear user…"

I guess his sacred gear power _isn't_ making the school's female population hot for him.

While the Wannabe Exorcist was stunned, Koneko and Aika finally had an opportunity to strike.

"Promotion: Rook!"

The two of them then ganged up on the exorcist and both hit him with a massive punch that slammed him into the wall, visibly cracking it. That's gotta hurt.

The Wannabe Exorcist eventually got up from that, spitting blood out. "Okay… I guess taking on four-on-one wasn't too smart."

He then pulled out something round. "I guess it's time for my secret technique!"

I went for cover as he dropped it, causing a massive flash of light.

When I was able to see again the Wannabe Exorcist was gone.

A flashbang. His "secret technique" was running away. Where have I heard that before?

Now that he buggered off, I attempted to move the altar. I pushed on it with all my strength to no effect.

"Wow, that promotion is doing you really well, Makoto," Aika commented. "You're well on your way to going toe-to-toe with the President,"

"Out of the way, delinquent."

Koneko then gently tapped the altar with her foot and it moved out of the way, revealing a stairwell.

"Well, that works."

The piece isn't doing as much to amplify my strength as I hoped. Is this going to be enough to beat Raynare?

"I can sense something at the far end of the hall," said Kiba. "They must be holding her in there."

Koneko kicked open the door to reveal a room full of exorcists.

"Oh, great. More Freeds," I commented.

At the end of the room I could see Asia bound up in shackles.

"It's them! Take them out before Lady Raynare returns!" one of the exorcists yelled.

"Me and Koneko will take either side. Aika, make sure Makoto can get through to rescue the girl!"

"On it," Aika said, summoning her Downfall Dragon Spear.

"Between the Rook promotion and my ability to absorb and release attacks, I should be able to make a big enough opening," Aika told me, acting as my shield as we made a beeline towards where Asia was being held.

After blocking several bootleg lightsaber blows and gunshots with ease, she unleased a massive amount of energy, sending several exorcists flying.

That gave me a generous opening to fly over to Asia's location as I sliced through her shackles and helped her up.

"You actually made it!" Asia exclaimed.

"No time to celebrate. We need to get the hell out of here before your master gets back."

Kiba and Koneko were still dealing with several exorcists. "We got your back, Makoto! You and Aika get Asia out of here!"

I nodded I picked Asia up as I followed Aika, who took out another group of exorcists.

We ran through the hallway and up the stairs as fast as we could. If we are lucky, we'll not have to deal with Raynare.

I thought too soon. As soon as we made it back to the defaced sanctuary, we felt a massive flash of light that blew the three of us across a fair distance from the stairwell.

Aika looked pretty badly hurt from the explosion of light. "Asia, take care of Aika! I'll handle Raynare."

* * *

Akeno and I saw a large flash from the direction of the Church

"Do you think they're going to be alright?" Akeno asked.

"If Makoto can unlock his true power, I'm sure of it. He should rival even me." I said. "But we should check on them after we're done here."

As we got closer to the Church, two fallen angels appeared from the trees.

"We were wondering where you two were," Dohnaseek said.

"May I ask where your master is?" I asked.

"She's inside. Lady Raynare insisted on dealing with the boy personally," he replied. "She told us to make sure you two don't obstruct the ritual."

"Is she gonna go through with it though?" Mittelt asked. "It looked like she totally fell for him at the end of that date."

"That's probably what she wanted him to think." Dohnaseek said.

"Hmm. You may be right..."

"You lot have a lot of nerve making enemies of us once again," I said to them. "What do you seek to gain from this?"

"Control of Kuoh Town," Dohnaseek replied. "Lady Halja is ready to make the next move and take Earth as well, starting with the elimination of the final threat to her control of Heaven - Makoto Fujiwara."

"Looks like somebody isn't content with their current living conditions..." Akeno commented.

"Don't be so cocky," Mittelt replied. "If Lady Raynare hasn't dealt with that pathetic angel, she will soon."

"I would say the same to you," I said. "It's a shame she sent such low-level grunts to take out such high-level targets..."

Dohnaseek scoffed. "You'll regret that!"

The two of them summoned spears to throw at us, but then Akeno got in front of me and shot out a surge of lightning that dissolved the spears in mid-air.

"Impossible!" he exclaimed.

"You've underestimated Makoto, and you've underestimated me. You will pay with your lives!"

I fired a surge of Destruction magic at them that immediately vaporized Dohnaseek. However, Mittelt narrowly avoided it and darted away.

"Screw this! I need to get to Lady Halja!"

"Should I go after her?" Akeno asked.

"No. We need to make sure those pesky exorcists aren't giving our servants any trouble..."

* * *

The fallen angel was at the very front of the sanctuary on the windowsill, holding a light spear. She went down and picked up the Downfall Dragon Spear that Aika had dropped.

"I'm gonna be honest with you," Raynare stated. "I'm not really interested in either of their sacred gears anymore," and she threw the DDS back to me.

"What I was really interested in is _you._ "

"If that's the case, why did you try to kill me?"

"I could care less about that bitch of a goddess. When she ordered me to take your life for killing Kalawarner, I wanted to see if you were the threat she was talking about, so I played the role of that little girl to get to know you.

However, when you proved to be cleverer than you put on and I learned you were the son of Gabriel, I knew that if we worked together, we could get back at Halja."

"Stop trying to toy with me, Raynare!" I exclaimed as I summoned my light swords. "It didn't work then, and it won't now!"

"Don't waste your time. We both have a common enemy. I haven't told anyone, not even the other fallen angels, of my true intentions except for Asia."

"BULLSHIT!"

I wouldn't listen to any more of what she had to say. All she is, is in my way of getting Asia to safety.

I charged straight at Raynare, who was standing next to the stairwell.

She lobbed several spears at me, but I managed to deflect each of them this time. We began to clash blades as I reached her location.

We seem to be much more evenly matched than last time. Maybe it's the King piece. Maybe it's just sheer determination and grit. All I knew was that my mind was merely focused on my goal of taking her down.

"You know, I'm disappointed," she said. "I thought you could be a powerful ally, more powerful than me in fact."

The more she kept going on about her plot, the more I was beginning to question her honesty.

Is she being serious, or is this another trick like that phony date when we first met to make me drop my guard?

As I was having that inner conflict, I narrowly blocked a strike that ended up knocking me back several meters.

"However, it doesn't seem that the blood of Gabriel truly runs through your veins. I suppose I'll have to actually finish the job I was supposed to do."

She started lobbing spears at me again as I was trying to get back to the stairwell. This time she managed to get a couple hits on me.

As I was healing off my wounds, I was recalling the first encounter with fallen angels, when this exact situation was happening with that trio of fallen angels. Except now, Rias Gremory isn't here to save me.

However, Raynare's earlier remark made me recall what my mother said to me earlier.

" _I can sense a lot of untapped power in you, potentially stronger than mine."_

Is this what Raynare's referring to about the "blood of Gabriel?"

If that's the case, I'm going to have to dig deep if I want to not get killed.

I dissipated my light swords.

If there's some ability that I somehow have that can help me in this situation, now would be a great time to use it.

As she lobbed two spears at once at me, in a rush of adrenaline I recalled what Rias did to stop one of the fallen angel attack from before and attempted to mimic that.

To my surprise, that caused me start glowing white and I managed to unleash a white-colored surge of energy at Raynare, knocking her into the wall.

I don't exactly know what happened. But it definitely worked.

I went to check on what exactly happened. She was still alive. In fact, she was lightly chuckling.

"Is Aika alright?" I asked Asia, who was still in the back with her.

"She's alive. Just unconscious from the blast."

"I see you've taken care of the fallen angel," Kiba said as he emerged from the stairs.

"I see you're late. I was nearly killed."

"The President actually ordered me to stay back."

"Did she, now?" I snarked

"I did," Rias replied as she and Akeno entered the building. "I knew you had more than enough strength to handle it yourself. I see you figured out how to use your Power of Retribution?"

"Power of what now?"

"The Power of Retribution that was passed down from your mother. It's the holy equivalent of my demonic Power of Destruction that you've seen me use before. Let's just say my mother's family and your mother were rivals back in the day."

"There's a reason your mom was called the 'Strongest Woman in Heaven'," Akeno added.

"Neat."

Koneko went over to where Aika was unconscious and carried her as they teleported out.

"So, our paths cross yet again, Raynare," Rias said to the fallen angel.

"So, it seems…" she replied, with an air of malice in her voice.

"Unfortunately, your fallen angel friends won't be coming to save you any time soon," she said as she scattered some black feathers next to her.

"Mittelt managed to get away, but Dohnaseek wasn't so lucky."

Raynare chuckled. "Typical of those traitors."

"Bold of you to speak of treachery considering what you did to Makoto,"

"To be fair, I wasn't quite ingenuous with that date either,"

"No need to throw yourself under the bus, Makoto. But you, fallen angel, have meddled in our affairs for the last time," she said as she started to glow red.

"Wait just a minute, Gremory. If this is how it's going to end, then I want Makoto to be the one to finish me off."

"You are in no position to negotiate," she said. "You have toyed with him for far enough."

"Hold on, Rias. I'll do it." I said.

"Very well," she said as she stopped glowing and turned to the side. "She's all yours."

It took a second for me to remember how my new power works, but I managed to get glowing again and summoned a ball of energy in my hand.

"I guess it never really worked out between us, Makoto. I'm already dead for failing to dispose of you but I'd rather it be you to finish me off than my master. But I want you to promise me you will be the one who brings that goddess down..."

Again, is she being serious about her true intentions or is she trying to make me drop my guard?

My conflicting emotions against Raynare were being reflected in the flickering of my Retribution aura.

"Is everything alright, Makoto?" Rias asked me.

Then, the mood in the room suddenly shifted.

Everyone except me, Raynare, and Asia were suddenly frozen in place and the room suddenly shifted to grayscale save for the three of us.

Then I noticed someone else in the room who was still able to move behind Asia.

"Asia! Behind you!"

But it was too late. A blade of light impaled her through the chest.

Her eyes went blank and she fell to the floor lifelessly.

It was that Wannabe Exorcist, Freed Sellzen.

But he wasn't alone. Mittelt also appeared in the room along with a woman cloaked in darkness.

The darkness-clad woman emanated a vicious aura I have never felt before.

"Well, Raynare. I'm disappointed in you," the woman in darkness said. "It was foolish to think I wouldn't catch wind of you and the girl's plan to betray me…"

"As if I would actually swear loyalty the one who murdered Lord Azazel, Halja!" Raynare exclaimed as she got up.

She was then shot in the leg by Freed, causing her to be brought to her knees.

"Good girls should kneel before their master, you know?" Freed said.

"You two dare betray me? _I_ am your master!" Raynare exclaimed.

"Lady Halja is our master. Not you, dumbass." Mittelt commented.

"We don't need a master who can't even dispose of Angelface properly," Freed explained as he walked over with his light sword. "What was your plan exactly? Kill him or make love to him? I honestly can't tell! You are a terrible strategist and your only value is spank-bank material!"

My blood was boiling.

I have never felt such pure rage before in my life. Especially not focused exclusively on one individual.

Halja just had Asia murdered in cold blood right before my eyes… after all that trouble I went through to save her life.

And now she was going to end another life. She doesn't even have the balls to do it herself. She's getting some shitty exorcist to do the dirty work for her.

And she's watching with what I assume is a smug look on her face. I couldn't tell, since she was completely engulfed in shadow, except for two glowing red eyes.

As Freed was climbing the steps to the altar that Raynare was resting against, I rushed at him and grabbed a hold of him, somehow flinging him backwards.

" _DIVIDE!"_

I heard that unrecognizable voice from the direction of my right arm as Freed went crashing through the window. I was so caught up in stopping him that I didn't realize the white gauntlet that materialized on that arm.

And now my sights were set on Halja. I don't care if she's a hundred times stronger than me. She's going down.

"The White Dragon Emperor!? " Halja exclaimed. "Impossible! I wiped out the Longinus! They've been destroyed!"

I didn't have a clue about what she was saying, and I didn't care.

"You will pay for what you've done!" I yelled as I was surrounded by an intense white aura. "Your legacy of bloodshed ends now!"

I then unleashed the force of Power of Retribution at Halja. I managed to create a massive hole in front of the church, but she managed to vanish before the attack connected.

How did I get that much power?

As I cooled down, I then moved towards Raynare. She looked petrified with fear as I was approaching

However, all I was about to do was heal her injured leg.

"So, you _did_ have a change of heart…" she said, deviously, as she stood up.

"There's no point anymore," I said, avoiding eye contact with her. "Just get out of my face and don't let me see you again, Raynare."

"Please. Just call me Yuma," she replied before flying away through the newly-opened window.

Shortly after, the room went back to normal.

"What happened?" Kiba asked.

"The Goddess of Death is what happened. She appeared out of nowhere along with Mittelt and Freed and killed Asia."

"Where's Raynare?" Rias asked.

"She won't be causing us any more problems," I replied as I walked over to where Asia's body was.

I managed to heal the wound that Freed incurred on her, but it was too late. She was gone.

As tears were starting to fall from my face, Rias wrapped her arms around me in an attempt to comfort me. "It's okay. You did the best you could."

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine," I said, nudging her off.

I picked up Asia's body. "You said you were lacking a Bishop in your ranks. I think we have the perfect candidate right here."

"I'm thankful for your offer," Rias replied. "But I think she would be in much better hands with you,"

"What are you talking about? You're a hundred times the master that I could even hope to be."

"What makes you say that? You have yet to take your first step. Plus, with the kinship you two have built over such a short time, if anybody were to be your first servant, it would be her."

"In fact," she added, pulling out one of my bishop pieces from her skirt pocket. "I took the liberty of bringing you this."

It all clicked. "You're right!"

I placed Asia's body at the front of the church. I then placed the golden bishop piece on her chest.

I raised my right hand up. I turned to Rias to confirm I was doing this right. She nodded in approval.

Here goes nothing. My white-colored aura flares up.

"By the power invested in me, Makoto Fujiwara, I shall have you, Asia Argento, reborn as an angel. You shall live your new life under my stead as my Bishop. Now come forth!"

After that overly badass speech, the piece merged with Asia.

I rushed to see what I just did. I checked her pulse.

For a second, nothing. But all of a sudden, I could feel her heartbeat gradually coming back.

It was a miracle. She opened her eyes to see me.

"Makoto, is that you?" were her first words.

My eyes were tearing up quicker than ever before, out of sheer joy. "Yes…" I said, grabbing her hand. "It's me. You're safe now!"

And just like that, my journey, not just as an angel, but as a hero, was beginning…


	6. Side Story: Let the Sky Fall

"Lord Michael, we've intercepted a signal from the border!"

"What is it?" he replied

"It looks like the Red Dragon Emperor has paid us a visit."

"Tell him to leave immediately. Even he, as legendary as he's become, can't just waltz in without permission. Who let him in?"

"We don't know, sir."

"Find him and bring him in for questioning. Gabriel, come with me."

"Yes, sir." I said.

Michael and I exited the large door of the Sixth Heaven sanctuary. We went to the lift to take us to Seventh Heaven.

As we were reaching closer to Seventh Heaven, Michael noticed something odd about the clouds.

"Awfully grey today…"

"Aren't the clouds supposed to be always white?" I added. "Especially this close to Seventh Heaven?"

"That should be the case."

A while later, I heard something even more unusual – thunder.

"Did you hear that?" I asked.

"Probably just Metatron trying another 'ninja technique.' I swear, after he started watching this thing called _Naruto_ he won't shut up about them."

"You're probably right."

However, we were quickly proven wrong.

We reached the entrance to seven heaven to a deafening silence.

As we approached the palace, I noticed one peculiar thing – It was getting dark.

Impossible. There's no night in Heaven! Even after Jehovah's death, the light still shone.

Then, all of a sudden, a massive explosion caused a terrible quake. It seemed to be coming from the direction of the palace.

From the entrance, we saw a group of angels being flung out as the gate to the palace was completed shattered as if it were made of glass!

"Oh dear!" I exclaimed.

"I'll take care of whatever's in there," Michael said to me as he pulled out his swords of light and charged in.

As Michael was fighting the whatever was in the palace, I began to see the source of the impending darkness.

Out in the vast, clear sky, a strange portal akin to a black hole opened forth, unleashing a horde of fallen angels and devils!

"The Khaos Brigade!?"

I unleashed my power on a group of them. However, in spite of my reputation, I would not be able to hold them off for too long.

As a horde of devils were about to overwhelm me with dark magic, they were stopped by someone unexpected.

The allied fallen angel blocked the devils' hits and then redirected them right back to clear the playing field.

He really shouldn't be here, but at this point, I'll take any assistance I get.

"Y'know, I was hoping for my homecoming to be less chaotic," said Azazel.

"So, what's _your_ business here, Azazel?..." I inquired.

"I was just curious as to who managed to breach Michael's Holy System Control."

"It may have been the Red Dragon Emperor," I answered.

"I doubt it's quite that simple and I think this may be connected to the fall of Asgard,"

"The fall of Asgard!?"

That was news to me. How did that happen?

"Loki has been sealed up in Mjolnir. Who else could have done it?"

"His daughter, Halja, the Goddess of Death, who likely acquired a fragment of the Red Dragon thanks to his help.

Some say her attacks are to avenge her father. But I have a different theory – The power of the Red Dragon is getting to her head. Her megalomania didn't stop at drawing power from Asgard, but also drawing from the Holy System."

" _Pretty accurate, if I do say so myself._ "

The voice came from the palace.

Before I could do anything, in a flash of light, Azazel's left arm was suddenly lobbed off.

I frantically picked up the weapon he was holding in that arm.

The culprit revealed itself, wearing the Red Dragon Emperor's armor, kept aloft by glowing red wings. She then lowered her helmet, revealing her face that, despite there still being a faint level of light, was completely shrouded in darkness.

"Halja!" I exclaimed.

"You would be a fool, however if you think my conquest will end there…" she continued as she descended to the ground.

"It's also foolish to think taking my arm off will stop me," Azazel commented. "When the other arm came off, it was of my own free will."

"Trust me. That's the least of your worries. Michael and the rest of the Seraphs were no match for me. Now that I'm in control of the Holy System's power, whoever _does_ stand a chance against me will soon no longer pose any threat."

I unleashed a powerful attack on her with my Power of Retribution. However, as I fired off the attack, she was surrounded by a powerful aura that absorbed the attack.

"Impossible…"

" _I who shall awaken…"_

"You need to get out of here! She is unleashing the Juggernaut Drive!" Azazel demanded. "Take the Dragon Spear to the shrine in Kyoto! They'll know what to do with it!"

"What about you!?"

"Your life is more valuable than mine. I'll hold her off. You need to inform Issei and Vali about this. They're the only ones who stand a chance of making this right."

I charged towards the nearest slipgate to the right of the lift. He wasn't kidding. Only someone with a Longinus Sacred Gear equal to or greater her's would be able to take her on.

However, as I was going through the slipgate, I felt a massive shockwave strike my back.

The last thing I could see as I had barely made it through, was scattered feathers falling through the air

* * *

The next thing I knew, I was lying down on a quite comfortable bed.

I scanned my surroundings. I appeared to have woken up in a traditional Japanese house.

There was a woman soaking what appeared to be bandages in water.

She had black hair tied up into a ponytail with a bow and her eyes were hazel and soft as clouds. She was modestly dressed, but there was an air of bygone mysticism to her.

"It's okay, young lady. You're safe here," she said. "My, my. Your kind seems to appear around here a lot," she added, giggling.

I was feeling a bit woozy, so I laid in bed for a bit longer. I didn't really have strength to protest her calling me "young lady."

However, not long later, I found out the meaning of her latter statement.

A bearded man walked in. Someone I was quite familiar with.

"B-Baraqiel?..." I weakly exclaimed.

He suddenly began to surge with electricity and whipped out a sword of light.

I was about to try and defend myself by I began to feel a sharp pain in my back as I assumed a fighting stance sitting up.

"Easy there, young lady. I encountered you with a pair of your wings missing," she softly said, tracing her finger down the white shirt I was wearing to bandages below my chest. "I'll take care of this…" she added.

"Honey! Leave our guest alone!" she barked at him. "She's had enough trouble as is!"

"Y-yes ma'am!" he abrubtly replied, dissolving his sword.

Goodness. I didn't get the impression she was this domineering.

"I just wanted to ask you one question, Gabriel," Baraqiel commented. "How did you get a hold of Azazel's artificial sacred gear?"

"He gave it to me to deliver to Kyoto," I responded. "Right before taking on the Goddess of Death by himself to buy me some time, saying that my life was more valuable."

"They were right. She did wipe them all out."

"Your one question has been answered, dear. Let her rest."

Baraqiel shuffled out of the room as I finally was able to rest.

"I'm Shuri Himejima by the way. I found him not too differently from when I found you. I nursed him back to health, one thing led to another, and now we're married with a newborn child."

"That's great…" I said, slipping back into a coma.

* * *

After a while, Shuri was able to get me back on my feet.

I went outside to get myself some much-needed fresh air. Baraqiel was out there already.

"Glad to see you're up," he commented.

I nodded.

"I'm sorry I lashed out at you earlier. I heard my former master had met his end travelling to Heaven to fight off Halja and the Khaos Brigade. I feared it was at the hands of the Angels, but I was wrong."

"How did you get here? Was it another fight with her? Asgard?"

"No. It was completely unrelated. The date when Azazel was slain is a complete mystery."

I was confused. Unless I was out for longer than I thought, it only took place a couple days ago.

"I heard you and Shuri had a child."

"Yes, we did. Would you like to see her?"

He led me inside to a small bedroom where the baby was sleeping peacefully in the crib.

"I think she will very much take after her mother," he said. "But what troubles me is that she already has my eyes.

I don't want her to become a fallen one like me. Especially as most of who's left of us is under the employment of the goddess of death. If anything, I want her to have a clean slate from the shameful things I have done – white wings like yours."

"No. That would attract even more trouble. Halja would want to hunt down any pure angels that remain.

So, what's her name?"

"Shuri decided on the name Akeno."

That raised a red flag.

Akeno Himejima? I've heard of her. She should be around 18! Why is she a newborn?

Not to mention, now that I think about it, Shuri Himejima is supposed to be dead by now!

I said nothing to him of this. I don't know enough about my situation to tell him properly.

* * *

A couple days later, I was given some spending money to go into Kyoto and deliver the Spear.

"Be careful, Ms. Gabriel," Shuri said to me. "Don't let them know we're associated or who you really are. We're not on good terms after I married one of the fallen."

"I understand."

I boarded a bus to Kyoto. At the station, the attendant asked for a name. At the spur of the moment, I answered "Gabby."

Ever since then, the alias stuck.

A lot was on my mind. What happened as I went through that slipgate? Did I accidentally travel in time?

I arrived at a shrine. The front gate had the characters "Himejima" written on them.

One of the first people that caught my eye was a bushy haired man with deep blue hair and blue eyes. He appeared to be sweeping the grounds. A servant, presumably.

"Hello. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, actually." I replied, pulling out the Spear. "It's a rare mythical artifact I came across. It needs to find an owner."

"Oh yes. I can take this to someone who'll take care of it."

"Thank you so much."

It was nice of that man to take care of that for me as soon as he did. I didn't want to involve myself in that more than I needed to.

But the incongruency of the timeline was still bothering me. I ran over to the bus stop and took another bus to Kuoh Town.

While I'm out, I might as well take care of Azazel's other request.

Another thing that bugged me was that the cars passing by all looked about 20 years old from what I had gathered on Earth. That wasn't helping anything.

I was searching all over for a ridiculous-looking mansion that the Red Dragon Emperor was supposed to be living in. I wasn't able to find it.

I did remember, in my head, the address of where his home was supposed to be.

The address was right…but it was just a normal-looking house.

I knocked on the door and a young couple answered the door.

"Excuse me, is this the Hyodo residence?"

"I'm sorry, but no one by that name lives here…"

"Sorry to bother you," I responded as I left.

They don't live there. That's odd.

I then went to a library. I looked at an encyclopedia for information. For some reason, it didn't have any information past the year 1990.

After some looking, I unearthed another encyclopedia. This one focused on the occult. I was quite familiar with it. To the casual reader, it would be an interesting guide to the various myths and legends. Little do they know, it's a goldmine of useful information about what was beyond their understanding.

The encyclopedia, again, was a 1990 edition. But it should have been just fine for my use.

However, there was a bigger issue. It was supposed to have a section on "Longinus"

But there was nothing there. All that I could find that was remotely about it was the spear that pierced the side of The Christ after his death.

Curiosity hit me. I searched for Vali Lucifer.

Nothing.

I searched for Boosted Gear. Nothing.

I searched for Divine Dividing. Nothing.

Zenith Tempest. Nothing.

Incinerate Anthem. Nothing.

Any relic that was a Longinus was not included.

I know this encyclopedia. It should have them!

I would have yelled that last sentence out if I wasn't in a library. I, instead, stormed out.

It dawned on me.

" _Whoever does stand a chance against me will soon no longer pose any threat"_

She wasn't kidding at all.

If she truly is the goddess of death, she wouldn't simply take their lives.

With the power that she obtained from the Holy System, she took their _**very existence**_!

I took a bus back to the Kyoto station that would take me back to the outskirts where Shuri and Baraqiel were.

The revelation hit like a two-ton weight on my head.

I am stranded on Earth, 18 years in the past, with no one who can help me stop the mad goddess who overthrew Heaven.

This combined with the pain from my injuries caused me to nearly fall over.

However, I was caught by someone familiar.

It was that servant from the Himejima shrine.

"You alright?" He said. "It was a good thing I was heading home when I did."

"I'm fine. Thank you very much."

"My names Hikaru Fujiwara, by the way. And you?"

With how much help he's been today, I had to tell him plainly, "Gabriel."


End file.
